


Friendship is a Complicated Matter

by Uchiha_Blood



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 07:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5040346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uchiha_Blood/pseuds/Uchiha_Blood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sass, fluff, a sprained ankle, and a kitten named Chidori.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friendship is a Complicated Matter

"Yo, Sasuke, guess what? There's no training sessions today!" Naruto called excitedly, waving to the approaching Uchiha.

"What?"

"Yeah! There's a sign on the door and everything!"

"Hm. So I dragged myself out of bed for nothing," he muttered, turning around and heading back in the direction of his home.

"Hey, where're you going?" Naruto called, chasing after him.

"Home. Where else would I go?"

"Uh, you could hang out with me?"

"And why would I do that?" Sasuke asked coldly, turning on his heel to snarl at the blond.

"Uh... Never mind, I guess..." Naruto replied, taking a couple steps back before slowly turning and walking away looking like a kicked kitten.

Sasuke watched him walk away in silence, then turned around again and headed home. After unlocking the door, he dropped his bag and kicked off his shoes, then made a beeline for his bed. Flop.

He had intended to go back to sleep and waste away the entire day in the safety and comfort of his bed. Unfortunately, though, he couldn't get the image of Naruto's sad trek back home out of his mind. He felt guilty for some reason, but he knew that the blond would only get in his way. There was something about him, though, that made him different from the rest. And it wasn't just the fact that the idiot was a jinchûriki.

"Stupid Naruto," he mumbled, rolling over onto his back and smashing a pillow onto his face. "Why do you do this to me?"

He got up, stretched a bit until his joints popped, and changed from his crisp green-and-white school uniform into well-worn gray jeans, a maroon t-shirt, and his late brother's old black leather jacket. That would have to do. Then, he laced up his Converse and headed out the door. 

He kept his head down and his coat collar up as he walked, knowing all too well that many of the villagers hated him. Ignoring the snide remarks and rude gestures, he made his way across town to the house occupied by one blond usaratonkachi. It was small, yes, but it was well-kept, unlike many of the abandoned buildings in the Uchiha district that no one dared to touch.

Sasuke hesitated only a moment before knocking on the door.

Tap tap tap-tap.

No response.

Tap tap tap-tap.

A dog barked several streets away and a little bird was singing in a nearby tree, but no one answered the door. There was a light on, though, so someone had to be home.

TAP TAP TAP-TAP.

A red-eyed and groggy-looking Uzumaki Naruto dressed in stained gray sweats and a ratty orange t-shirt answered the door, then, upon seeing who it was, immediately slammed it shut again. Sasuke, however, had placed his foot in the door to keep this from happening, forgetting how strong his teammate actually was. 

"Gah! Jesus!" Sasuke yelped, dropping to his knees and nursing his poor foot. That was going to be sore for a while.

"Oh, dude, I didn't see your foot there! Are you okay?" Naruto asked, flinging the door wide open and crouching next to his friend, who whimpered in reply.

"Do I look okay to you?"

"Ah, man, I'm so sorry! D'ya think you can walk on it?"

"Maybe," Sasuke said tentatively, bracing his pale hands on the doorframe as he tried to pull himself up, putting only a little weight on his foot. "GAH!"

"I'll take that as a no. C'mon, I'll help you up and over to the couch, and then I'll call Sakura. She can help," Naruto said, straightening up and offering a hand.

"Will she?" Sasuke asked, peering up at the blond. He knew that Team Seven's medic had had a crush on him for the longest time, and probably still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had left without so much as a hint of caring whatsoever. Of course, that was because he, quite frankly, didn't care, but Sakura was stubborn.

"Oh, I'm sure she will. It's her job, anyhow. Now c'mon, let me help you up."

"Alright," he agreed, allowing Naruto to pull him up off the porch. He attempted to take a step, then hissed in pain, nearly dropping back down to the ground.

"Whoa, easy man," Naruto cautioned. "Lean on me, I gotcha. Just hop."

"If I hop, I'm going to fall."

"What if I..." There was a poof, and a shadow clone appeared on the other side of Sasuke. Each took one of Sasuke's arms and draped it around his shoulders, keeping him quite remarkably balanced. "Do this?"

"That might work," Sasuke said, taking a tentative hop in the direction of the couch. It took some getting used to and adjusting of positions, but soon, they were moving at a decent clip toward the large, blue sofa. 

"Oop, watch out for my kitty!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, pointing out the tiny sleeping feline in the middle of the couch. He scooped up the black kitten in one arm as he and his clone helped Sasuke flop on the couch in a somewhat graceful manner. "C'mon, Chidori, you gotta move now, bud."

"Chidori, huh?" Sasuke asked, gesturing to the feline as he shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Oh, right, you never met this guy. See, one of my neighbors' cats had a litter of kittens, and this guy was the runt. The tiniest one. And plus he was a black cat, which means bad luck to a lot of people. They were gonna put the poor little guy down if they couldn't find a home, and since I live alone, I figured I could use some company."

"I see. Why Chidori?"

"Cuz he's sassy and he reminds me of you, I guess. Ya know, Sakura told me that animals are great for people who are suffering, like for therapy and stuff, so why don't you hold onto him while I call her, okay? Okay," Naruto said, not bothering to wait for a reply.

Sasuke made an effort to protest as the small kitty was dumped unceremoniously on his lap, deploying his tiny claws in the process and pricking the pale skin of Sasuke's chest and stomach. Once the cat had settled down and retracted his claws, he began to sniff around and explore. The electric guitar pin on the lapel of Sasuke's leather jacket seemed particularly interesting to the kitty for some inexplicable reason.

"Uh, hi there," Sasuke said softly as the kitten began to nuzzle his cheek, marking the Uchiha as his. 

"Mew?"

"Hi. What are you doing to my face?"

"Mew," the kitten replied, rubbing his little furry face all over Sasuke's not-so-furry one.

"You just want attention, don't you? Yeah, I think you do," Sasuke cooed, giving his new friend a scratch behind the ears. He was rewarded with a very, very happy purr. "Well, aren't you just the sweetest little thing..."

While Sasuke was fussing over the little kitty on his tummy, Naruto was trying to convince Sakura to come over and check on Sasuke.

"No, really, he's sitting on my couch right now! Yeah, he's-- No, he's not unconscious. He's... Yeah, it's kinda my fault..."

"Okay, thanks. See you soon," Naruto said, sighing in relief as he hung up the phone. "Now to make sure Sasuke hasn't murdered my poor little devil kitty."

"Aww, just look at you, you sweet thing," Sasuke purred, oblivious to the fact that Naruto had returned. 

"How the hell did you do that?!"

"Huh?! I, um..." Sasuke stammered, sitting up and setting the kitten aside, placing him on the floor.

"Dude, whenever I try to pet him, he tries to eat my fingers! What are you, a cat whisperer?"

Sasuke chuckled at that. "Well, the Uchiha clan has always gotten along relatively well with the Ninja Cats, so perhaps that has something to do with it."

"No, seriously! He adores you. Look at him!"

"Mew," the kitten said, hopping back up onto the couch and nudging Sasuke's hand.

"Well, why don't you try petting him now."

Naruto did. 

"Hey, he's not biting me! Hi buddy, who's a cute kitty? You are!"

"You're welcome. And I think someone's at the door."

"Huh? Oh, it's probably Sakura!"

Naruto scampered off after giving little Chidori one more pat, hurrying to open the door. Sasuke chuckled, letting the little black kitty crawl up onto his shoulder. Soon, the kitten was sound asleep, forcing Sasuke to stay perfectly still.

"He's in here," Naruto said cheerfully, pointing to his friend.

"Shh, sleeping kitty," Sasuke whispered.

"Oh, sorry. He's in here," Naruto repeated, quietly this time.

"Okay," Sakura whispered back, giggling softly. "Hi Sasuke."

"Hi. There's a cat on me."

"Yes, there is. Can I see your foot?"

He nodded, gingerly propping his right foot on the pillow Sakura provided for him. 

"Okay, I'm gonna have to take your shoe off," Sakura explained, gently folding back the tattered hems of his jeans before untying the white laces. "This might hurt a bit."

It did.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Sasuke muttered, grimacing as the shoe was removed. The kitten woke up, confused and concerned. "I'm okay, kittycat. Don't worry about me."

"Sorry, sorry! And sorry, little kitty. Now, normally, I'd remove your other shoe, too, to compare and see if it's swollen. In this case, I don't think I need to. I can tell even without taking your sock off. Which I'm gonna do right now."

"Ow!"

"Sorry! Okay, this is gonna be kinda painful, but I have to do it."

"Just get it over with," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth, bracing himself.

Poke. "Does this hurt?"

"Gah!"

"Okay, I'll call that a yes." 

Poke.

"Gaaaahh!"

"That's definitely a yes."

"Well, no, really?" Sasuke snarled, fists clenched tight.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop torturing you. It's not broken, thankfully, but its definitely sprained. I'll bandage you up, since I'm not supposed to heal people outside the hospital unless it's a combat situation, an emergency, or my own body. Like a paper cut or something."

"That's a dumb rule."

"Well, I'm not an official medic-nin yet! The exams are next month!"

"Still dumb, if you ask me."

"Yeah, it kinda is, but not every medic trainee knows what they're doing. I've seen some pretty bad mistakes..."

"I'm not going to ask."

"That's probably best for the both of us. Now, Naruto, can you get some ice in a plastic baggie and a hand towel?"

"Got it!" Naruto said, dashing off.

"Alright, now Sasuke, you keep your foot elevated as much as possible and ice it for twenty minutes every hour or two. Don't try and walk on it unless you have to, to get to the bathroom for example, and if you do, I'd recommend asking Naruto for help. He kinda owes you one, anyway," Sakura said as she wrapped a compression bandage carefully, but snuggly around his ankle. "Okay, there you go. It'll be sore for two or three days for sure, but if it doesn't get better after that, you should get it checked out at the hospital."

"Okay, sounds reasonable.

By this time, Naruto had retrieved a bag of ice and a towel, along with a stack of comic books. 

"Ah, there you are! Thank you, Naruto," Sakura said sweetly, tucking a couple more pillows under Sasuke's injured foot before wrapping the towel around the bag of ice and tucking it into place. "The towel will keep your foot from getting too cold. And it looks like Naruto has found a solution to the issue of boredom, too! Well, I really should get back to the hospital, since we're kinda low on staff at the moment. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"

"Okay, we will!" Naruto replied, waving goodbye to their pink-haired friend.

"Yes, we will. And thank you," Sasuke added, earning a look of surprise from both Sakura and the blond standing next to him.

"Oh, uh, no problem! Just helping a friend!" And with that, she was gone.

"Um... That was awkward."

"Is it really that weird for me to thank someone?"

"Uh, yeah. You almost never do. And when you do, it's usually sarcastic."

"Congratulations, you used a big word."

"Dude, come on, I'm trying to help you out here, and all I get is sass?" Naruto complained, plopping down on the oversized brown leather chair next to the couch. "And here I was gonna share my comic book collection with you for a bit."

"Dobe, you know I don't read comics," Sasuke protested, but his complaints were duly ignored as the first issue of Spider-Man was plopped on his lap.

"I don't care. You can go ahead and be bored, then, cuz Chidori is taking his afternoon nap in my sock drawer."

"Fine."

Ten minutes later, he gave in, picking up the colorful magazine and starting to read. During the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, he read several more, often with a kitten dozing on his lap, playing with his shoelaces on the foot that hadn't been crushed, or perching on top of his head.

"So, uh, I guess we did get to hang out after all," Naruto said at about eight o'clock that evening. 

"Yeah. You know, originally, the reason I came here was to apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that this morning."

"And I shouldn't have squished your foot. So I guess we're even."

"Really?"

"Really. And you can, like, stay overnight if you want, since it's dark out now and you live all the way across town."

"Okay. Your cat certainly wants me to stay, anyway."

"Yeah."

The next morning, as the birds were chirping praises to the rising sun, both young men were sprawled on couch and chair, sound asleep. Little Chidori, too, was asleep on a pillow between them, surrounded by comic books and what was left of the Chinese takeout that had been a late-night snack. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning, and neither looked as though they intended to get up any time soon.


End file.
